((Look – TIGER colors!))
We all know uber talented people get more Get Out of Jail Free cards (literally and figuratively) than the rest of us, but this–from New York Magazine’s Daily Intel–is especially interesting:
All Tiger Woods had to do to get people back on his side was whack a few
golf balls. At least that’s according to data from Zeta Interactive, a
company that measures public perception by trolling message boards,
blogs, and social-media sites. Released on Friday, the data shows that
Woods’s online reputation went from 51 percent positive before the
Masters to 69 percent positive after the first day of the tournament.
I haven’t thought this through, so help me out: everyone loves a comeback, but what are some examples of classical musicians damaging their reputations and then achieving some kind of S is for Salvation for a truly magnificent performance or recording? Are there any stories like that? Or do we not care enough about classical musicians’ personal lives for them to be That Damaged by matters beyond playing, so any fall from grace would be from performances and recordings to begin with?
Somewhat but not entirely related, I like Nico’s take on James Levine’s illness(es) on his blog. I’m completely fascinated by this idea that the only working business model for successful careers in classical music are cancellations:
What’s confusing to me is why audiences would be upset by this. Let me
explain: classical performance is built on the backs of sick singers,
conductors, violinists. Probably half of the people we know know and
adore at the podium or on the stage were, like, twenty years ago,
called in super
last minute to fill in for an ailing star. Audiences who are
complaining about Jimmy’s coccyx need to realize that they have a
unique opportunity to see a young star fill in! There is nothing with
more cachet in classical music than “having been there” — there are
countless examples; there’s that time so-and-so got on the Concorde to
fill in for whoever else, there’s that time the hitherto unknown
Somebody-Pekka Somebodysdóttir jumped to the podium to replace Somebody
Else — to all of you Bostonites freaking out about Jimmy, send his ass
a card, and then go to Symphony Hall with nothing but the highest
expectations.
More on that perhaps later this week, though I’m warning you that blog post is going to involve some nonsense about my high school swim team. Go Lady Rams.
That’s a great point – a few months ago I was at the opera when the Artistic Director came onto explain that the soprano had lost her voice, so her understudy would be singing in her place. And then the understudy’s understudy was in her place and so on and so forth until it transpired the assistant director was going to actually perform in the chorus. It was a great opportunity to see a couple of singers I heard about, but hadn’t seen, perform.